Corn, Pumpkins, & Sun

One of our family’s favorite things during UPT is the 3 Day Weekend. They only happen around holidays, and since Andrew can’t take time off during training, these weekends are our only chance for mini trips. With the weather cooling off, we really have been trying to get out and explore our area of Texas as a family when we can.

The most recent 3 day weekend Andrew got was for Columbus Day. We were originally hoping to do an overnight trip, but Gerrit ended up picking up another cold bug. It just seemed like a day trip would be a better idea in the end. So we decided to go to Hondo, TX that Sunday afternoon. Just outside of town, Graff 7A Ranch sets up South Texas Maize for the season. It seems like, for those of us in Del Rio, this is pretty much THE thing to do in the fall if you like corn mazes and fall fun! There honestly isn’t much else around that offers that.

We left later than we planned on Sunday, but it ended up working out great, because Gerrit slept almost the whole way there! He really needed that nap, and I’m glad he got it before we got there rather than right before dinner. It was a Heroes Weekend, so we had free admission because Andrew is in the military. I love that they have several of these weekends as a big thank you to those in the military, firefighters, law enforcement, and EMS personnel.

After we got our entry bracelets, we got food! The lady at the ticket booth told us the food was great, and she wasn’t lying. Maybe I was just really hungry, but I thought my cheeseburger and fries were definitely above average! Plus Gerrit got a fun pumpkin cup that he absolutely loves.

Once our bellies were full, we headed over to see some goats. Gerrit said hi to them, but he didn’t want to touch them. As we made our way over the the corn maze, we had to pass the big slides: MatterCorn Mountain.

Andrew took Gerrit on the slide, and he loved it! Not enough to do it more than once, but he still said it was fun. We headed into the MAiZE next. There are two different mazes to do, and since it was about 90 degrees out, we opted for the short one!

There were numbered posts in the maze with a question to answer at each post. If you got the answer right, you would head down the correct path to the exit. Despite getting all of our answers right, we still got a little turned around, I think! Gerrit was in no hurry, and kept wanting to look at ears of corn that had fallen on the ground. Eventually we made our way out of the maze successfully!

Right after we made our way out of the MAiZE, they were announcing that the last pig race of the day was starting, so we headed that way. We stayed to watch one pig race, but we were pretty hot and sweaty after wandering through the corn for half an hour!

After watching a pig race, we found some shade under a tree and rested for a bit. Gerrit’s little cheeks were getting so red from the heat, so we just kept telling him to drink his water! He was happy to do it since it was out of his big pumpkin cup haha.

Gerrit played on the hay bales for awhile after we rested for a bit, and then we headed over to the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin to carve. We haven’t carved a pumpkin with Gerrit before, but I think we’re going to try it this year!

Andrew picked out a big one for us to carve in a couple of weeks, and Gerrit picked out the one he wanted to take home. I almost pointed out the flaws in the pumpkin Gerrit picked (lots of scuffs on one side), but I’m so glad I just kept my mouth shut and let him choose the one he wanted. He was so proud of it!

We only spent about 2 hours at South Texas Maize, but we really had a great time! I think if it had been cooler or a little overcast, we would have stayed longer. We didn’t get to do everything we wanted in 2 hours, but it was still a fun fall day trip. Gerrit is already asking when we can go back!